RADIO: Taylor Marsh LIVE! –updated–

NOTE: I covered the blast at forward base Falcon, which is shown above, on my radio show. Here's one link that's now available on the story. As Richard Engel said on the tape I played, the Mahdi army claimed responsibility. It was an attack, though no casualties have been reported.

Join me from 6-7 p.m. eastern – 3-4 p.m. pacific.

We're down to the wire and things are getting rough. Oh, and by the way… I'm going to run down St. McCain's latest presidential campaigning on North Korea, with Senator Clinton's comment, too, as well as the facts.

Meanwhile, an ammo dump explodes in Iraq at Camp Falcon; bodies mount up by the day;
over 110 bodies in the last two days alone. Ralph Peters chimes in: NO
MORE TROOPS.

Then there's the Foley scandal, which is biting the Republicans right where they're most vulnerable: the hypocrisy meter.

Kerry got more votes than any Dem in history, as well as raised more money.
Bush ran on the backs of gay fright, which is now causing Republicans such a
scandal. Karma really is a bitch. She's vindictive, too, even when she's dressed
in full on drag. (Wink to reader not your standard poodle – see comments.)

Republicans, throw off your moral costuming and shed the hypocrisy. Nobody is buying it anymore.

UPDATE (4:10 p.m.): As promised, here's what I believe is Senator John McCain's first guest blog post. It's on North Korea (here's a round-up of coverage) and he takes aim at Senator Clinton, Democrats and the Clinton administration policies. It's starting already and the 2006 midterms aren't even over. Let the games begin.

RADIO: Taylor Marsh LIVE! –updated–

Democrats lead on both fighting terrorism and the values issue, according to
new polls. But the lead in congressional races across the country is now huge.

What a difference a sexual predator makes. Revealing the truth behind the Republicans' politics is all credo has made a huge difference. The mask is off. The facade has crumbled.

On the North Korea front, I just had a conference call briefing by
Steve Clemons, Jeffrey
Lewis and Paul Kerr.
It was very interesting, which I'll talk about on the show. The main topic for me that hasn't been covered anywhere is Japan's reaction, which I find key to the whole story. I'll tell you what I've found out.

Needless to say, the conversation I had with some Kerry insiders got me thinking. But the Carville – McCurry angle on election night 2004 is horrifying if true.

Hope you can join me: 6-7 p.m. eastern – 3-4 p.m. pacific.

UPDATE (4:35 p.m.): I promised I'd put up Senator Clinton's comments about Bush's North Korean policy failings. She was spot on today.

“This is extremely serious — the fact that North Korea apparently detonated a nuclear device, obviously the pre-cursor to a nuclear weapon, is a terribly dangerous precedent that has to be met with the strongest possible action from the entire international community. There will be an effort in the UN today to bring the world together against this rogue nation with its unaccountable dictator who has been seeking to destabilize the world. Some of the reasons we are facing this dangerous situation is because of the failed policies of the Bush administration. I regret deeply their failure to deal with the threat posed by North Korea. And I hope that the administration will now adopt a much more effective response than what they have up until now.” Senator Hillary Clinton

UPDATE (4:30 p.m.): Thought I'd add this, because it came in while I was readying for the show. Lieberman has flip flopped on his pledge to Hastert. He's all over the map on this one.

RADIO: Taylor Marsh LIVE!

“The data suggests Americans have bailed on the speaker,” a Republican source briefed on the polling data told FOX News. “And the difference could be between a 20-seat loss and 50-seat loss.” FOX News

That Condi, she's such a hoot.

Join me today from 6-7
p.m. eastern – 3-4 p.m. pacific. Now, let's start with a headline…

61%
Believe Republican Leaders Have Been Protecting Foley

…but get a load of this one, with a little Pat Robertson on the side. UPDATE (1:30 p.m.): ABC rebuts Drudge.

Okay, so what have we learned so far today?

Yet another part of Woodward's story has been confirmed by the U.S. commander for Europe.

Marine Gen. James L. Jones, the U.S. commander for Europe, is quoted in “State of Denial,” by The Washington Post's Bob Woodward, as believing that the war in Iraq is a “debacle” and that “The Joint Chiefs have been systematically emasculated by Rumsfeld.” As Marine commandant, the post he held before moving to Europe, Jones was a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. U.S. European Commander Confirms Quotes in Book

Silence. Carnage. And…

As long as Republicans are in charge there will be NO ACCOUNTABILITY. On that
note, Howie
Klein is running a huge contest today. The winner gets a great prize. Check
it out! You can also give to my
Act Blue page, but I'm only giving away CDs.

However, the Republicans can be glad of one thing regarding the Foley scandal.
It's only a sexual predator. At least in the page scandal no one died.

Thirteen U.S. soldiers have been killed in Baghdad since Monday, the American military reported, registering the highest three-day death toll for U.S. forces in the capital since the start of the war. The latest losses — four soldiers who were killed at 9 a.m. Wednesday by small-arms fire — are part of a recent spike in violent attacks against U.S. forces that have claimed the lives of at least 24 soldiers and Marines in Iraq since Saturday, the military said. Attacks in Baghdad Kill 13 U.S. Soldiers in 3 Days

RADIO: Taylor Marsh LIVE! –updated–

On the air from 6-7
pm eastern – 3-4 pm pacific. I'll be on in a few minutes…

A lot to talk about today, wouldn't you say? One person who is on the hot seat
today is one of my favorite Republicans incompetents Condi. Hope you can join me.

Oh, and my apologies to everyone for the O'Reilly video, but I had to post it due to the “fff” slur. It's only going to get worse.

UPDATE (5:00 p.m.): I covered this and much more on my radio show today. General Shelton was a paratrooper who spent 37 years in the military,
including 2 tours of Vietnam. He was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs at the
time. This is one exchange that hasn't gotten much coverage. It says a lot about
Rumsfeld, all of it bad.

SHELTON WAS WORRIED about trust between himself and the new secretary. Before Rumsfeld had been confirmed, he had received a chilling warning. A retired Navy captain who had worked for Air Force General George S. Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs during Rumsfeld's first tour as secretary of defense, had sent him a personal letter. It was damning. The captain claimed that Rumsfeld could not be trusted, that he despised the uniformed military. “You're not going to enjoy this relationship,” he wrote. “He will be in control of everything.” Shelton shared the letter with several senior generals and admirals. “God, I hope this isn't true,” Shelton said, noting that he had only nine months left to serve as chairman. “I don't want to spend my last year in this kind of environment.” Other retired senior military officers had chilling stories of being dressed down by Rumsfeld. Admiral James L. Holloway, the chief of naval operations from 1974 to 1978, said Rumsfeld had chewed him out in front of 40 other senior military officers and civilians. Rumsfeld was concerned about some congressional testimony and Holloway had attempted to explain. “Shut up,” Rumsfeld said, according to Holloway, “I don't want any excuses. You are through and you'll not have time to clean out your desk if this is not taken care of.” STATE OF DENIAL, by Bob Woodward

PRE SHOW UPDATE: Mark Foley's attorney just announced Foley was abused by clergy as a kid. Developing… more on the show. Oh, and by the way, Foley is gay. Ho-boy.

Radio is on from 6-7 p.m. eastern – 3-4 p.m. pacific. I promise not to be as panicked
as Rush today. He likely gave one of the worst shows in radio history. Okay,
that might be an overstatement because Michael Reagan is still on the air. Isn't
Ollie, too? Anyway, it was bad. It's Foley – Hastert – Republican damage control,
all hacks on deck. It's also back to gay bashing for Republicans. I'll have a video up later of
Tony Perkins. It's GOTV, baby. It's all over talk radio, which means wingnut radio.

But the #1 issue for Americans is still IRAQ.

Today will be state of denial — pick a subject and the Republicans are in
denial – hour, with some Republican cut and run on the side.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday that the Afghan war against Taliban guerrillas can never be won militarily and urged support for efforts to bring “people who call themselves Taliban” and their allies into the government. The Tennessee Republican said he learned from briefings that Taliban fighters were too numerous and had too much popular support to be defeated on the battlefield. “You need to bring them into a more transparent type of government,” Frist said during a brief visit to a U.S. and Romanian military base in the southern Taliban stronghold of Qalat. “And if that's accomplished, we'll be successful.” Frist: Taliban should be in Afghan gov't

Is there another Caspian Sea oil deal I didn't hear about? And we thought Pakistan
making
deals with thugs was as bad as it could get. Now Frist wants to cut and
run in Afghanistan by giving the Taliban a seat at the table. What? Is he trying
to find moderates among these men?

The Republican state of denial continues.

Of course, Bob Woodward gave an amazing interview with Larry King last night,
coming on the heels of finding out that Condi ignored
a hair on fire meeting with Tenet and Cofer Black.

I've got video
from Keith's “Countdown” that brings the point home. Richard Clarke
verified it.

The independent Sept. 11, 2001, commission was given the same “scary” briefing about an imminent al Qaida attack on a U.S. target that was presented to the White House two months before the attacks, but failed to disclose the warning in its 428-page report. Former CIA Director George Tenet presented the briefing to commission member Richard Ben Veniste and executive director Philip Zelikow in secret testimony at CIA headquarters on Jan. 28, 2004, said three former senior agency officials. Tenet raised the matter himself, displayed slides from a Power Point presentation that he and other officials had given to then-national security adviser Condoleezza Rice on July 10, 2001, and offered to testify on the matter in public if the commission asked him to, they said. In the briefing, Tenet warned “in very strong terms” that intelligence from a variety of sources indicated that Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization was planning an attack on a U.S. target in the near future, but didn't provide specifics about the exact timing or nature of a possible attack, or about whether it would take place in the United States or overseas, said the former senior intelligence officials, all of whom requested anonymity because Tenet’s presentation was classified. .. … … Richard Clarke, who was the National Security Council's top counter-terrorism advisor, confirmed the former senior intelligence officials’ account. Clarke was present when Tenet briefed Rice, along with deputy national security adviser Steven Hadley, CIA counter-terrorism chief Cofer Black and another CIA officer whose identity remains protected. … 9/11 Commission saw the 'scary' briefing of 2001

Why was this meeting omitted from the 9/11 Commission Report? Other
inquiring minds want to know.

RADIO: Taylor Marsh LIVE! –updated–

State of denial is right.

Now you just have to designate the subject: Iraq, NIE, intelligence, 9/11,
Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda, terrorism…

And since when does a sexual
predator need alcoholic
detox?

TPM Muckraker has more, including that ABC's Brian Ross was asked to hold the emails! Wow, now that's arrogance.

Hope you can join me, 6-7 p.m. eastern – 3-4 p.m. pacific. We're going to discuss it all.

UPDATE (4:25 p.m.): From my friend Sean Paul, Dennis Hastert caught in it now, baby. …oh, almost forgot, Drudge is blaming the victim. I kid you not.

BOOT HASTERT – SUPPORT LAESCH!
Thanks for the reminder, Cujo359!